Date of Request
08/10/2025
Request
Dear Fire and Rescue Service,
Please provide the following information for the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2025, broken down by financial year:
1) Total expenditure by the Service on pest control services, including both in-house provision and external/contracted services.
2) If any services are contracted out, please provide the supplier name(s) and the contract value(s).
3) The number of call-outs/treatments by species category (e.g. rats, mice, pigeons, gulls, foxes, grey squirrels, wasps, bedbugs, cockroaches—please use your own categories if recorded differently).
4) For any lethal control commissioned or carried out by the Service, the number of animals killed by species and, where recorded, the method used (e.g. trapping, poisoning, shooting).
5) A copy of any policy, guidance, or standard operating procedure relating to the Service’s pest control service or contractors.
Please also provide the information in CSV, Excel, or another machine-readable format where possible.
If any part of this request is unclear, or if fulfilling it would exceed the statutory cost limit, please provide advice and assistance on how I can refine it.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Response
Good Afternoon,
We thank you for your request for information, which has been received by Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (the Service) and considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your request. However, the Service can confirm that the information that you have requested is partially held and is detailed below.
1) Total expenditure by the Service on pest control services, including both in-house provision and external/contracted services.
For 2024/2025 to date expenditure is £2,400 which is average annually, all services are outsourced.
2) If any services are contracted out, please provide the supplier name(s) and the contract value(s). Nurture Pest Control; £7200.
3) The number of call-outs/treatments by species category (e.g. rats, mice, pigeons, gulls, foxes, grey squirrels, wasps, bedbugs, cockroaches—please use your own categories if recorded differently).
These are the frequencies for the provision of bait boxes, there are also some ad hoc visits which anecdotally are for Wasp/Ant Issues.
Below are the callouts received this financial year:
| Droitwich Fire Station, Droitwich | HWFRS | Repair | Pest Control | Pest Control | Pest Infestation | Nurture Pest Control | 17/07/2025 | 31/07/2025 | £51.00 | Ants |
| Droitwich Fire Station, Droitwich | HWFRS | Repair | Pest Control | Pest Control | Pest Infestation | Nurture Pest Control | 31/07/2025 | 31/10/2025 | £63.75 | Ants |
| Malvern Fire Station, Malvern | HWFRS | Repair | Pest Control | Pest Control | Pest Infestation | Nurture Pest Control | 18/08/2025 | 31/10/2025 | £76.50 | Wasps |
4) For any lethal control commissioned or carried out by the Service, the number of animals killed by species and, where recorded, the method used (e.g. trapping, poisoning, shooting).
The Service have not had any trapping or shootings recorded and we would assume it could be difficult to quantify poisonings as poison would be ingested and then death could occur somewhere else. No further information available.
5) A copy of any policy, guidance, or standard operating procedure relating to the Service’s pest control service or contractors.
These are Nurture’s own in-house policies and statements which have been approved by us. Further information can be found at Nurture’s Safety Data Sheets & Pest Control Certifications.
If you have any questions regarding your request, please contact Information Governance and Committee Services on tel: 0345 122 4454 or by e-mail informationrequests@hwfire.org.uk. In any such communication please include the reference number assigned (see Subject).
Should you have any queries regarding the management of your request and wish to make either a complaint or request a review of the information disclosed to you, please do so by using Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s complaints system: Comments and Complaints. This must be done within 40 working days of our response to your request. After this date and in line with ICO guidance the Service is not obliged to provide an internal review of your request.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may appeal the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 (alternatively 01625 545745) or E-mail: casework@ico.org.uk.
Further information on Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service may be viewed at the Service’s website: www.hwfire.org.uk
Thank you for your request for information.
Kind regards,
Information Governance Team